


The Storm Dragon and The Whispering Moonlight

by iwanttochangemyusername



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, BAMF Zuko (Avatar), Brother-Sister Relationships, Child Azula (Avatar), Crew as Family, Dragons, F/M, Fire Nation Culture (Avatar), Gen, Iroh (Avatar) is a Good Uncle, Love, Original Character(s), Relationship(s), Spirits, Teenagers, Zuko (Avatar)-centric, and all that implies, different forms of love, some crew members unintentionally borrowed
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:55:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28130517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iwanttochangemyusername/pseuds/iwanttochangemyusername
Summary: The night her son was born, Ursa prayed by the light of the moon for his survival. A month before, Tui had answered the similar prayers of one of her people on their death-bed. So similar were these prayers, in fact, that she felt the same desire to help this child of fire as she had felt to save her own child. So she called upon the light her brother gave her, ensuring that the child had enough strength to survive the night. When she descended, Angi arose and found the child worthy of many blessings.Sixteen years later, Crown Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation learns of his origins and is given a new mission to complete alongside the quest to regain his honor.
Relationships: Agni & Tui (Avatar), Azula & Zuko (Avatar), Iroh & Zuko (Avatar), La/Tui (Avatar), Zuko (Avatar) & Original Character(s), Zuko (Avatar)/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 59





	1. Finally, Finally Laid to Rest

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MuffinLance](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MuffinLance/gifts), [Vathara](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vathara/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Embers](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3591783) by [Vathara](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vathara/pseuds/Vathara). 
  * Inspired by [Of spirits and men (and the burning paths they trod)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21114437) by [ShaShirRa](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShaShirRa/pseuds/ShaShirRa), [SheDrabbles_butitsalie_ (ShaShirRa)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShaShirRa/pseuds/SheDrabbles_butitsalie_). 



> This is why it's been taking me so long to update Whatever's In Between. This idea has completely consumed me and if I ever finish writing it, it might be my favorite story I've ever written. I'm not abandoning my other work! I'm just going to try to multitask :)
> 
> This is for MuffinLance because reading their works inspired me to actually make this passing thought into a real story. You should definitely check out their stuff. (Read A Dark Night in Ba Sing Se if you want to see the inspiration for Book 2 before I even write it.)
> 
> Of Spirits and Men has such a lovely sibling dynamic among all of the Gaang, but the Sneaky Fire Siblings really captured my heart. 🖤
> 
> Also if you haven't read Embers, READ IT!
> 
> It's the best novel I've ever experienced and I want the whole world to feel what I feel every time I think about how they masterfully crafted misunderstanding through cultural differences.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The last Temple, the last room, the last chance — every ending is a beginning.

Three Years.

Three Temples.

Two Princes.

No Avatar.

Prince Iroh knew it wasn’t in his nephew’s nature to give up, but these undeniable facts had to be disheartening. 

As Uncle and Nephew explored the outer rooms of the presumably once-lively Southern Air Temple, the elder's thoughts were somber and he struggled to maintain his thoughtful commentary on Pai Sho strategy for the younger. Plus his joints were killing him — as if a storm was coming. Iroh just did not feel like his usual optimistic self.

  
  


Prince Zuko on the other hand was uncharacteristically optimistic.

This was the last air temple to search for information on the Avatar. Three years ago, the Western Air Temple was a challenge of dancing around wide holes embedded in the ground, made more difficult by his then-recent injury. Two years ago, allies were made through eye-opening revelations at the Northern Air Temple. Last year, he and his crew had discovered several specimens of long thought extinct species in the hidden depths of the Eastern Air Temple.

Even if there was nothing in the Southern Air Temple to further his mission, the experience was sure to be memorable.

  
  


Although the sight that greeted them when they entered the deeper chambers of the temple was expected by now, it hadn’t gotten any easier to look upon.

Bones. 

Charred, blackened bones piled on top of each other. 

Large ulna and radius’ stretched over tiny skulls in attempted protection. 

Orange and red so close together and faded, they were almost indistinguishable. 

(Except for the armor. 

Now-outdated, rusty, burned in some places, barely keeping dust off the bones of people that had perhaps denied the orders of their Fire Lord.

Or perhaps evidence a peaceful people were pushed far beyond their nonviolent philosophies in the desperate hope for survival.)

Somewhere nearby, a wind chime sang, almost in acknowledgment.

Silently, they got to work.

At every temple, they did the same things (except the Northern Air Temple of course; a different approach was required there). They had developed a routine of moving from room to room, ferrying the fragile bones to fresh air and sunlight, leaving the nomads to the mercy of the Four Winds, and stripping the Fire Nation soldiers of their armor before burning their bones to ash under Angi's watchful eye. 

A labor-intensive task, that the two Princes of the Fire Nation completed alone. 

Later, some crew members of the _Wani_ would retrieve the armor so they could sell it to a Historian friend of Iroh’s at the nearest port. (It was nice to have some coin besides the meager funds the Fire Lord spared monthly for their little exposition.) But until then, this little section of the royal family works in a vast grave of their ancestor’s making together, and alone.

  
  


_At least this is the last time,_ Zuko thought, days later, trying to keep his earlier optimism. They hadn’t found any excitement comparable to that of the previous temples they visited, but there was one more room to check.

As they walked toward the last chamber they had to search, he let his mind wander to the contents of this temple. They had found the typical remains of a Fire Nation attack (if slightly aged): burned skeletons, burned scrolls, haunting silence, the oppressive weight of displeased Spirits around their shoulders that got lesser and lesser with every prayer to the Great Spirits for forgiveness on behalf of their ancestors and compatriots. Typical. 

His emotions were so confusing after every temple visit — saddened by the life lost, frustrated by the lack of leads, angry with his ancestors, relieved that the horror never went away (no matter how many little phalanges he collected and placed beside floor-to-ceiling windows to the mournful, fading light of beautiful sunsets) and so much more. Probably too much for a teenager to parse alone. 

_Yeah, I should probably talk to someone_ , he thought, sardonically and just barely refrained from snorting aloud.

So focused was he on his "introspection", that he walked right into the back of his Uncle, who had suddenly stopped two steps into the hall leading to their destination.

Though they were both usually quiet during their funeral practices in the temples, he had noticed these past few days Iroh was especially so and finally, let his concern escape in the form of a question.

"Uncle, what's-?"

Then he noticed the dragon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't think this chapter is finished. There was more I wanted to do here (I didn't intend to leave a cliffhanger), but I'm not sure if I should add to this or just make a whole new chapter. Let me know what you think.


	2. Arrangements, Past and Present

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Most Spirits speak in truths and Dragon Spirits are notoriously honest FYI. Also, is that Golden Offer thing important or something? It seems pretty important...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is actually another third of chapter 1, but Eventide(phanike) suggested I make it another chapter.  
> Thank you for your comments and advice!

She was… magnificent. 

The scrolls in the palace library did not do her visage justice. 

Shimmering scales of a pale red, yet not exactly sliding into pink. 

Dagger-sharp talons at the ends of the four toes on each of her hardy hind legs, rivaling the dozens in her maw. 

Powerful-looking wings protruding from her strong-looking shoulders, stretched as far as they could be in the narrow hall, almost tall enough to block the door at the far end.

Shining golden eyes that spoke of an untouchable Spirituality, dilated in the hunt.

And she was staring right at _them_. 

No, not them — _Uncle_.

Her snout twisted into a snarl-

(Showing off those _large, numerous_ teeth-)

-her mouth did not open,-

(Teeth that could rip them to _ribbons-_ )

-and yet a voice reached him nonetheless, cutting through the sudden silence.

(His breath was _frozen_ in his lungs.)

_“I’ve been waiting for you, False Dragon,”_ the voice said coolly, echoing all around the hall. It was a cold voice, but not angry, like sturdy ice over a calm lake. 

A chill crawled down his spine, but fear gripped him too tightly to even shiver. The air had even stilled — as if the Winds were listening.

Iroh gulped. Then, took a deep breath and straightened his spine.

  
  


The Dragon of the West formed a perfect flame salute with his hands and bowed low — lower than several past Princes of the Fire Nation would have.

Instinctually, Zuko did the same. His breaths were no longer halted, but coming rather erratically. He still felt chilled and was almost hyperventilating — deadly actions for a Firebender.

“How may I serve you, oh mighty Dragon Master?” the former General responded. Distantly, Zuko noted that his Uncle had surreptitiously inched his way in front of him protectively. If he wasn't so scared he would have scowled.

_“You already have,”_ said the dragon's voice all around them, _“You have brought your Fledgeling where he needs to be.”_

_A Fledgling?_ Zuko thought incredulously. _Uncle has a Fledgeling?_

“With all due respect, Master,” Iroh started cautiously as he rose from his bow and folded his hands into his sleeves. Zuko, again, followed his lead. His sleeves weren't loose enough to fit his hands, so after a second of panicked hesitation, he ended up falling into parade rest by default.

“The boy is innocent,” Uncle's voice was certain, with no room for questioning, and Zuko didn't know what they would do if the dragon found his arguing disrespectful.

“I swear, on whatever honor I have left, Prince Zuko has spilled no dragon blood,” Iroh continued.

_I'm the Fledgling?_ Azula had teased him about his honest face enough times for him to know that his surprise would be obvious for the Dragon to see if she looked his way. He quickly tried to school his expression and vowed that if they ever made it back to the relative safety of their ship, he'd dwell on that revelation in the privacy of his quarters.

_“This is not about any deaths you or your Fledgling may or may not have dealt out, False Dragon,”_ She said, sounding amused, now. The wind chime began to sing again, closer than it had been that first day.

“ _No, this is about **life** ,_” She continued. Her predators’ eyes latched onto him, half-hidden by Uncle’s careful footwork.

_“Prince Zuko, son of Princess Ursa, It is time for her debt to be paid,”_ She declared. He tried to take a steadying breath before he spoke, but his voice still wavered.

“Master, I don’t understand. What debt does my mother owe to the dragons?” he said shakily.

_“Your mother prayed for the Father of Dragons to give you strength on the night of your birth and now, a debt must be repaid. That night, it was decided that the debt would be paid by_ **_you_** _.”_

Of course, an arrangement made with his nation’s patron Great Spirit when he was a literal newborn and couldn’t consent seemed to align with his established lack of luck.

_“A task must be completed,”_ She continued, _“Agni gave you life, you must give us_ **_blood_** _.”_

Iroh opened his mouth to speak once again, but Zuko stepped forward and cut-in before he could argue more with the, obviously vengeful, Dragon Spirit.

“What must I do to repay my mother's debt?”

She seemed almost satisfied with his response.

_“You have your Golden Offer with you, yes?”_

_My Offer-? Oh._ Zuko blinked in surprise but answered promptly.

“Yes, Master. I do,” He thought Uncle might say something ridiculous about him being too young, but he seemed to be willing to let Zuko decide this for himself.

(Though Zuko appreciated the sentiment, what other choice did he have? If he went back on his mother’s word, would his life be forfeit? Would hers? He needed to add this to the long list of things to ask her about if they ever met again.)

_“Then pass beyond this door and use it wisely,”_ She moves to the side to allow him access to the large doors at the end of the hall.

He steps forward, one foot in front of the other. When he reaches a point where she could reach out and slice him with her massive claws, he stops and bows to her once again. This close, it's obvious that she's a Spirit due to her slight translucence.

“What may I call you, Master?” He asks. There’s a pause, he must have surprised her — what a role reversal.

_“I am Kamala,”_ She answers softly. ‘Pale red’ if he remembers Uncle’s lessons on the Water Tribes. Very fitting.

“Thank you, Master Kamala,” He says sincerely and rises from his bow.

_“You must enter alone, little fledgling,”_ She says, her once-piercing golden gaze, now just as soft as her voice in his head. _“But always know you walk with Agni’s blessing.”_

Then, she looks over his shoulder, back toward Uncle. Her words could have been considered menacing if her tone wasn’t once again, amused.

_“You and I, False Dragon,”_ She began, speaking to Iroh. Zuko wanted to turn around and look at his Uncle’s face again, but the doors, now before him, creaked open ominously. He felt the heat of whatever was waiting for him beyond the door pulse in beaconing. As everything else but that pulse faded away he heard one last thing from Master Kamala to Iroh.

_“We have much to discuss.”_


	3. Our First Fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone remembers their first.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Speaking of firsts, this is the first fight scene I've ever written! I wanted to do some research so I tried reading sections of Fight Club and it didn't have nearly as many fight scenes as I thought it would. The more you know💫

The heavy door closed behind him almost silently. 

Instantly, the room was dark; its atmosphere serene.

The amount of heat his target produced made it easy for him to tell she was the large mass in the corner of the room. The sound of deep breathing suggested she was asleep.

He wasn’t foolish enough to believe that.

He stepped toward her cautiously. Creeping along the wall closest to him, Zuko tried to shrug off any residual fear and shock from meeting Master Kamala and receiving her revelations. He tried to remember that once upon a time he was trained for this; it had been a while since he used that training in earnest, but it had been seared into his muscle memory by the previous Fire Lord long before he was given the burn on his face by the current one. He had a fleeting wish for his dao blades (firebending would be almost useless here; everyone knew you couldn’t burn a dragon), masquerading as decoration above the desk in his quarters, but quickly shook his head to dislodge that thought. 

_No time for regrets,_ He thought to himself. _Stay on target._

  
  


It was hard to see her, even as his eyes adjusted; her scales appeared to be midnight blue against the darkness around her. Despite that, he could still feel the pulse of her presence like a beating heart. That probably meant she was alive and not a Spirit like the last dragon he had encountered. Much smaller too; roughly half the size of Master Kamala and only marginally smaller than his ship. Her head alone was as large as he was tall. Zuko was way out of his depth here; he wouldn’t be able to fight her head-on. For even a chance of success, she would need to make a pretty big mistake.

_On target_ , He told himself again.

He got to the point where he was about half a meter away from her when she lifted her head and they locked eyes. 

Lustrous gold met vermilion red and Zuko was entranced.

  
  


She was gorgeous.

Unlike Master Kamala, who inspired awe and fear, this dragon was just beautiful. No, not just- 

Her tail whipped out faster than lightning! He barely had time to jump away — back and toward the center of the room. He ducked into a roll and landed on one knee with just his fingertips braced against the stone floor. He was still facing her and felt a bruise sprouting under his ribs as he raised his head to meet her eyes again. If only he’d worn his heavier armor. He gritted his teeth and tried to refrain from growling.

_On target,_ He scolded himself.

  
  


She uncoiled smoothly and the melodic sound of scales across stone was daunting. He maintained eye contact but didn’t let himself get swept away by her gaze again. 

Prince Zuko didn't make the same mistakes twice.

While she watched, he reached into the hidden pocket in his armor and brought out his Golden Offer.

Her eyes narrowed at it clutched between his hands and as the lips of her snout lifted to show off her ivory teeth, he was struck with the idea that the only two dragons he had ever met in his life might be related. 

Before he could remind himself to stay on target ( _again_ ), her red gaze met his and she curiously tilted her head. Her voice echoed — not around the room, like Master Kamala’s had, but in his head.

_Do you believe you are worthy, Prince of Fire?_

_No_ , He thought immediately and vehemently. He wasn't even sure if she would be able to hear that, but her voice cut him off before he could answer aloud.

_...Interesting_ , She said slowly. Her voice was low and smokey; pleasant to the point of being distracting. He suddenly, desperately wanted to hear her read _Love Amongst the Dragons_.

She lunged at him, claws first, pouncing with force from her powerful hind legs. He rolled to the left, unintentionally putting her between him and the door.

_Focus on your target!_ He thought to himself angrily. This constant distraction of his was getting absurd. He couldn't go back on his mother's word; he couldn't let Uncle go down this mountain alone. 

He couldn't _fail_ here.

_Stay still!_ She snarled at him audibly and the sensation of her delightful voice shouting at him from within his head caused a slight headache.

She lunged again — with teeth first this time, pouncing with the force coming from her front legs.

There was her mistake. 

Instead of rolling, he jumped as far to the right as he could, holding the sturdy golden chain in his hands at the ready. As she shoved past him, he quickly clambered onto her head and wound his arms around her neck. Now all he needed to do was weld the ends of the chain to each other and get far out of her way.

She furiously shook her head to dislodge him, but he clung tightly. He directed as much Chi into his hands as he could and as they rapidly heated, he joined them together to hopefully make a quick meld that could be fixed neatly later. 

Feeling a rising heat so close to her neck, the almost captured dragon reared onto her hind legs and reached her front claws up to swipe at his arms. He heard a brief ripping noise but didn't let it distract from his firebending. The precision needed to connect the chain and not burn himself while also not falling off of the angry dragon was taking most of his attention.

Thankfully not all of his attention though, because then, being so far unsuccessful in removing him, the dragon opened her mouth and, judging from the sudden burst of brightness in the room, thundered a ferocious blast of flame.

He had to hastily bend his knees to lift his feet out of the direction of her flames. It was another close call, but by the time the flames went out, the chain was a necklace.

She began to shake her head again, and this time Zuko loosened his arms and let her throw him off.

He realized his mistake as he was unpleasantly skidding across the floor. He only just avoided slamming his back into the doors by a few meters. He tried to quickly spring to his feet in preparation for another one of her attacks but only made it as far as his knees. Thankfully no attack comes.

The room was once again dark, but after all that activity he could no longer call it serene.

  
  


There’s a pause then, a sudden light, rapidly shifting between colors.

The reds and oranges and yellows of conventional fire.

The blues and whites of lightning.

The pinks and purples and greens of Spirit Fire.

This was _Dragon’s Fire_.

He watched in astonishment as her whole body was consumed by her own flames.

She seemed to shrink and as the flames died down, a beam of light came from behind him, brightening the room even further. The heat from the Sun against his back felt completely different from the gentle warmth of the Dragon’s Fire before him. 

The flames finally died, with only colorful embers falling from the long black hair of the now humanoid dragon. 

She proudly stood before his kneeling form, half-bathed in Angi’s rays, half-covered by Zuko's shadow.

She was _completely nude_.

Apart from the thick golden chain hanging from her neck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last third of Chapter 1, and I seriously didn't think it would take us this long to get out of the Temple.
> 
> Also I'm not sure if this will ever come up besides in my notes but, I, like many others, hate Season 1 Zuko's hair. And because this is my AU, I can finally do what I want 😁
> 
> So this Zuko has a full head of hair, with a longer Phoenix Tail and no shave.
> 
> This is the reference I've been using:
> 
> https://www.instagram.com/p/CB_bkQclGpb/?igshid=13kb7hc4vhk57
> 
> I don't own this art and you should really check out the artist's other work. I love her concept of a much larger scar too, but I don't think that's the vibe I'm going for here. (Also the way they draw Yue is 😍)


End file.
